Scene June 29, 2022

2

| clevescene.com | June 29-July 12, 2022

June 29-July 12, 2022 | clevescene.com |

3

4

| clevescene.com | June 29-July 12, 2022

CONTENTS JUNE 29-JULY 12, 2022 • VOL. 52 NO 26

Upfront .......................................7

Eat ............................................ 39

Feature ..................................... 10

Music ........................................ 45

Get Out ..................................... 18

Savage Love .............................. 55

Dedicated to Free Times founder Richard H. Siegel (1935-1993) and Scene founder Richard Kabat Publisher Andrew Zelman Editor Vince Grzegorek

Euclid Media Group Chief Executive Officer Andrew Zelman Chief Operating Officers Chris Keating, Michael Wagner VP Digital Services Stacy Volhein Digital Operations Coordinator Jaime Monzon

Editorial Music Editor Jeff Niesel Senior Writer Sam Allard Staff Writer Brett Zelman Dining Editor Douglas Trattner Visual Arts Writer Shawn Mishak Stage Editor Christine Howey Advertising Senior Multimedia Account Executive John Crobar, Shayne Rose Creative Services Creative Director Haimanti Germain Art Director Evan Sult Production Manager Sean Bieri Graphic Designer Aspen Smit Staff Photographer Emanuel Wallace Business Business & Sales Support Specialist Megan Stimac Controller Kristy Cramer Circulation Circulation Director Burt Sender

Copyright The entire contents of Cleveland Scene Magazine are copyright 2020 by Euclid Media Group. Reproduction in whole or in part without written permission of the publisher is prohibited. Publisher does not assume any liability for unsolicited manuscripts, materials, or other content. Any submission must include a stamped, self-addressed

www.euclidmediagroup.com National Advertising Voice Media Group 1-800-278-9866, vmgadvertising.com Cleveland Scene PO Box 1028

REWIND: 1982 Four decades after hitting the Scene cover, Elton John brings his neverending farewell tour to Progressive Field this month.

Willoughby OH 44096-1028 www.clevescene.com Phone 216-505-8199 E-mail scene @clevescene.com Cleveland Scene Magazine is published every other week by Euclid Media Group.

Verified Audit Member Cleveland Distribution Scene is available free of charge, limited to one copy per reader Subscriptions - $150 (1 yr); $ 80 (6 mos.)

Email Megan - MStimac@CleveScene.com - to subscribe.

envelope. All editorial, advertising, and business correspondence should be mailed to the address listed above.

Subscriptions $150 (1 yr); $ 80 (6 mos.) Send name, address and zip code with check or money order to the address listed above with the title ‘Attn: Subscription Department’

...The story continues at clevescene.com

Take

SCENE with you with the Issuu app!

“Cleveland Scene Magazine” COVER BY JORDAN KAY

June 29-July 12, 2022 | clevescene.com |

5

6

| clevescene.com | June 29-July 12, 2022

UPFRONT TWO YEARS AND EIGHT MONTHS LATER, SUN FINALLY SETS ON CLEVELAND RISING NEARLY 80% OF THOSE surveyed by Dix & Eaton as part of a Cleveland Rising “Capstone Project” believe that Cleveland is not prepared for social and economic progress.

Nevertheless, 20% of those who participated in the summit are still engaged, in some form or fashion, with their issue-based working groups.

Cleveland Rising was the civic extravaganza staged over three days in 2019 at Public Auditorium downtown. Its promoters, a who’swho of business leaders, boosters, and economic development hacks, dreamed that the summit would accelerate “equitable economic growth” in the region and “cultivate trust.” This was meant to be achieved by gathering a diverse cross-section of the population and unleashing their collective creativity to solve big, systemic problems.

Its failure was inevitable, in our view, based on flaws inherent in the summit’s design, execution and promotion. While the capstone report offers a more clear-eyed assessment of the summit’s difficulties, it continues to misapprehend the root causes of the region’s economic woes.

In any case, two years and eight months after the summit itself, the sun appears to have finally set on Cleveland Rising. And though Cleveland itself may not have risen — at least not in ways its organizers foretold — one of its co-chairs, Justin Bibb, has ascended to the Mayor’s chair. In fact, the “corny and unbridled optimism” that organizers said was necessary to participate in the summit seems to have transitioned to optimism about the new crop of leaders across Greater Cleveland’s civic and nonprofit ecosystem, Bibb the marquee name among them.

The 19-page report was delivered to the inboxes of summit participants last week and was a surprise for many, seeing as two-plus years and a global pandemic have elapsed.

There is not much to report about the report. Its pages recount the summit’s goals and reframe its priorities in light of the 2020 George Floyd protests, dramatically overstating, in our view, the degree to which racial equity was a formal component of the proceedings.

Graphic by Steve Miluch

The report does acknowledge, in hindsight, the challenges of moving from ideas to action. This was the subject of a section titled, “the chaos of consensus building.”

“A few organizational leaders praised the philosophy and spirit of the effort but also acknowledged the challenges to transform a largescale, inclusive brainstorm into an easily actionable mechanism to drive sustainable change and improvement,” the report found.

“You can only do so much at the grassroots level,” said Cleveland Rising Launch Leader Lenora Inez Brown, in one of the section’s highlighted quotes. “You have to have people who can clear paths and have that voice and perspective to keep the path open.”

Global Cleveland Executive Director Joe Cimperman, added, “You can’t have that diversity, in regard to intention and skill set, and give them a whiteboard and expect them to make something immediately clear and coherent.”

Despite these challenges, survey respondents celebrated the diversity of the summit participants and the depth and breadth of the dialogues that took place. “CLE Rising’s

ability to convene a diverse cohort of participants was a distinguishing attribute, and the conversation represented a broad and deep discussion around Cleveland’s future.”

The report’s “calls to action” were centered on the importance of ongoing public participation in regional planning. Local leaders must engage residents, the report said, make their work accessible, and “find links, alignment and efficiencies to advance promising solutions and impact results,” whatever that means.

Still, the report’s authors and the summit’s launch leaders continue to misapprehend the region’s economic failures and cling to the delusion that “increasing trust” will magically lead to growth.

“The economic burdens and lack of trust that are holding Greater Cleveland’s economy back cannot be solved — regardless of the appetite for change — without first addressing the crisis of racial inequity,” wrote the NAACP’s Danielle Sydnor, in an introduction.

“The difficulty in advancing community priorities in Cleveland is a lack of collaboration and trust,” the

report states matter-of-factly. And, later, more somberly: “Even greater community participation and trust would be required to move the needle on major priorities and common challenges.”

Out of curiosity, was it a lack of trust that coerced the City of Cleveland into handing $100 million in incentives to Sherwin-Williams as homage for constructing its global headquarters downtown? Was it a lack of trust that duped city council into foregoing an additional 30 years of taxes from the Flats East Bank development? How much more trust would have been required to stop the County from bailing out the Hilton Hotel to the tune of $20 million per year during the pandemic, even as it pays through the nose on debt service? Whose lack of trust convinced the city and the county to agree to a ludicrous lease extension with the Cleveland Guardians that includes $285 million in public subsidies for stadium upgrades and new administrative offices for the team’s employees? Whom should Armond Budish trust, and to what degree, to prevent him from dumping $46 million into the most useless and publicly reviled

June 29-July 12, 2022 | clevescene.com |

7

8

| clevescene.com | June 29-July 12, 2022

UPFRONT building in Northeast Ohio? How would the cultivation of trust prevent the Cleveland Browns, the Greater Cleveland Partnership and the horde of economic development usual suspects from launching the predestined campaign to publicly fund a new or dramatically renovated Browns stadium slash entertainment village, disguised as a public-spirited plan to rejuvenate the waterfront?

The public is screaming NO THANK YOU in the face of all this fiscal recklessness and yet our leaders keep doing it. Engagement be damned. This has nothing to do with a lack of trust and everything to do with an economic framework that our leaders regard as inalterable.

This framework — crudely: trickledown economics, subsidizing private enterprise to promote growth — has created a bifurcated regional economy in which the rich have gotten richer and the poor have gotten poorer. The proof is in the pudding: Residents continue to flee by the thousands and Cleveland is the poorest big city in the United States.

Stop moaning about trust and start reallocating resources.

-Sam Allard

Progressive Dave Brock Succeeds Shontel Brown as Cuyahoga County Dems Chair West Park resident Dave Brock spent the early part of 2021 encouraging engaged Democrats to run for the Cuyahoga County party’s central committee. Brock called the central committee “the backbone” of the statewide Democratic party in a January op-ed and said that a newly energized committee had “the potential to enact the reforms desperately needed to make Democrats competitive in Ohio again.”

Nearly 500 members of that Central Committee, many of them newly minted, voted to elect Brock as the party’s next chairperson last weekend. It took two rounds of in-person voting at Cuyahoga Community College for Brock to obtain the majority required.

He defeated state lawmaker Kent Smith in the second round. Smith had taken an early lead, but Brock consolidated support from the other candidates after they dropped out.

Brock will now succeed Shontel Brown, whose embattled tenure

Out of curiosity: Was it a lack of trust that coerced the City of Cleveland into handing $100 million in incentives to SherwinWilliams as homage for constructing its global headquarters downtown? in party leadership was marked by a precipitous decline in voter turnout, a cascade of Republican victories statewide, and her own ascension from Cuyahoga County Councilwoman to Congressperson in Ohio’s 11th District.

Brock, 47, ran on a platform of increased voter engagement at the grassroots level and developing future Democratic leaders. He has called for heightened party visibility across the county and for a laser focus on the threat Republicans pose to everyday people.

“In a county monopolized by Democrats, you have to expect some level of infighting,” Brock told Scene in a post-victory interview. “But I don’t want Dems eating Dems. I don’t care if you’re a centrist or a progressive or a Communist, the focus needs to be on Republicans and how they’re affecting kitchen-table issues.”

Brock said he was thrilled by the result Saturday and credited the organizing work that emerged from both the Cuyahoga County Progressive Caucus and the ad hoc Build Back Cuyahoga project. He said he was especially indebted to committee members from the City of Cleveland, roughly 70% of whom supported him Saturday.

“It was never my intention to run for Chair of the party,” Brock said. “But I think there was real energy and concern around voter engagement, and I think people saw the work I had been doing on the ground, and the success I was having, and thought this could be replicated countywide.”

Ohio State Rep. Juanita Brent was one of the candidates Saturday as well. She dropped out after the first round of voting and threw her support behind Brock. Brock later nominated her for party vice-chair and said he couldn’t wait to work alongside her.

Together, Brock and Brent will make voter outreach their top priority. Brock said that every effort will be made to canvass aggressively and “meet voters where they are,” by knocking on doors, sending postcards, creating mailers, making phone calls, coordinating texting campaigns. Whatever it takes.

“We started this campaign for the people who felt that their voices

haven’t been heard within the party,” he said. “But this was really a vindication of all we’ve been doing for the past few years engaging the public. We’ll be reaching out. The last thing I want people to say when they walk away from a voter, either in person or electronically, is ‘I’ll be back. We’ll be back. The Democrats will be back.’”

-Sam Allard

O’Malley Signs onto Letter Vowing Not to Criminalize Abortions Cuyahoga County Prosecutor Mike O’Malley has signed onto a joint statement from nearly 90 county prosecutors nationwide vowing not to use the resources of their offices to criminalize those who seek, assist in or provide abortions.

The statement, organized by the national nonprofit Fair and Just Prosecution, comes on the heels of the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision last week to overturn Roe v. Wade in the Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization case.

The letter’s signatories come from 29 states and represent more than 90 million people. They said that while they espouse a range of personal positions on abortion, they stood united in the belief that elected prosecutors should not be criminalizing personal medical decisions. Enforcing the bans that numerous states are now imposing — including Ohio, where a six-week abortion ban became law hours after the Supreme Court decision — makes a “mockery of justice.”

“Our criminal legal system is already overburdened,” the statement reads. “As elected prosecutors, we have a responsibility to ensure that these limited resources are focused on efforts to prevent and address serious crimes, rather than enforcing abortion bans that divide our community, create untenable choices for patients and healthcare providers, and erode trust in the justice system.”

Zach Klein, the City Attorney in Columbus, is the only other prosecutor in Ohio to have signed on.

scene@clevescene.com @clevelandscene

O’Malley’s name did not appear in an earlier version of the statement, prompting the local Cuyahoga County Progressive Caucus to launch a petition urging him to do so. The Action Network petition was quickly shared, garnering nearly 1,000 signatures in 24 hours. O’Malley’s name appeared on an updated version of the statement Monday, and Fair and Just Prosecution confirmed to Scene that O’Malley’s office reached out to be included.

Reached for comment by Scene, a spokesperson in the prosecutor’s office said that O’Malley “believes in a woman’s fundamental right to privacy and their right to make decisions regarding their reproductive health,” but declined to comment further.

-Sam Allard

DIGIT WIDGET 228 Words of dissembling and obfuscation by the Cleveland Browns in their statement denying reports that owners Jimmy and Dee Haslam are leaning toward constructing a new stadium as opposed to renovating the current facility.

54% Percentage of CMSD students who were chronically absent, (missed 18 or more school days), in 2020-2021, nearly double the percentage (29%) from 20192020.

7,662,444 Pounds of toxic chemicals released into the environment by 141 companies in Cuyahoga County in 2020.

$53 million Amount that remains from the first half of the city of Cleveland’s $512 million ARPA designation.

In a caucus Monday, Council President Blaine Griffin proposed spending these funds largely on housing programs and social service initiatives.

June 29-July 12, 2022 | clevescene.com |

9

The reversal of Roe v. Wade will bring about a cascade of legal, health and social problems in Ohio

By Cleveland Scene Staff and CitiBeat Staff

10

| clevescene.com | June 29-July 12, 2022

Editor’s note: Some of the people and organizations quoted in this feature frame their abortion language around “women,” meaning a sex assigned at birth. But transgender men, intersex individuals, non-binary individuals and agender individuals also receive abortion care. We will continue to explore abortion issues that affect all individuals in future stories.

IN A LANDMARK DECISION on June 24, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled to overturn Roe v. Wade, eliminating the federal protection of a patient’s right to decide to terminate a pregnancy.

In the decision on Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization, Justice Samuel Alito follows the same language and logic he’d written in the leaked draft opinion that Politico published on May 2. In the current decision, Alito — part of a conservative court — writes that the U.S. Constitution does not explicitly spell out the right to an abortion, an unenumerated right. The decision in Dobbs reverses a nearly 50-year-old right granted by Roe v. Wade.

Justices Sonia Sotomayor, Elena Kagan and Stephen Breyer don’t mince words in their

jointly written dissent.

“Whatever the exact scope of the coming laws, one result of today’s decision is certain: the curtailment of women’s rights, and of their status as free and equal citizens,” the three justices write.

The decision has opened up the floodgates for restrictive state bills across the country — including in Ohio, which that night enacted a ban on abortions after six weeks of gestation. These laws also could open the door for reversing other rights, including further bodily autonomy, being able to marry someone of a different race or the same sex, or having consensual sexual activity with someone of the same sex.

“No one should be confident that this majority is done with its work. The right Roe and Casey recognized does not stand alone.

To the contrary, the Court has linked it for decades to other settled freedoms involving bodily integrity, familial relationships, and procreation,” Sotomayor, Kagan and Breyer warn in their dissent.

Here’s Where Abortion Currently Stands in Ohio What is an abortion?

The Cleveland Clinic defines abortion using two separate methods of the proceedure: medication abortion and surgical abortion. The clinic’s definitions are as follows: Medical abortions (nine weeks of pregnancy or less): A woman will take two different medicines (usually within a 48-hour period).

The medication is given by a healthcare provider and is either taken in the provider’s office or at home (or a combination of both). Your healthcare provider will give you specific instructions about how and when to take the medications.

Surgical abortions: In this type of abortion, a healthcare provider will surgically remove the embryo from the uterus. These types of abortions require mild sedation, local anesthesia (numbing an area) or general anesthesia (fully asleep). Some other terms for surgical abortions are in-clinic abortions, aspiration abortions and dilation and curettage (D&C) abortions. Some reasons women have a surgical abortion are personal preference, too far along in pregnancy or a failed medical abortion.

At six weeks gestation, an embryo is not yet a fetus and is about 3.5-6 millimeters, or roughly the size of a grain of rice. For scale, a blot clot commonly passed during a typical The Supreme Court’s decision was met on the street with rage and frustration.

MARY LEBUS

menstrual period is about the size of a dime, or 17 millimeters. A misoprostol pill’s diameter is 9 millimeters.

What abortion services are currently legal in Ohio?

Prior to Dobbs, abortion was legal in Ohio until 20 weeks gestation; as of press time, it is only legal until just six weeks gestation. Lebanon, Ohio, is the only city in the state where abortion is outlawed, but there was no provider there when the procedure was banned in almost all cases in 2021.

How many abortions happen in Ohio?

Ohio Department of Health data for 2020 shows there were 151 cases of abortion care per 1,000 cases of live births. Abortion care, overall, has trended downward since 2000, with the exception of slight increases in 2012 and 2020, according to data released annually from ODH. The gestational time frame when a patient seeks abortion care also has steadily skewed earlier. There were 20,605 legal cases of abortion care in Ohio in 2020, according to ODH. Of those cases, 62.3% happened before nine weeks gestation, and 25.4 % happened between nine and 12 weeks. That means 87.7% of cases of abortion care occurred within the first trimester.

Only about 10% of abortion care cases happened between weeks 13 and 18, and there were 441 June 29-July 12, 2022 | clevescene.com |

11

cases involving pregnancies of 19 weeks or more.

What kind of abortion care is used in Ohio?

About 47% of abortion treatments were carried out using mifepristone, commonly known as the “abortion pill,” according to ODH. The number of patients receiving mifepristone (as opposed to using methods like curettage or dilation with evacuation) has seen a steep increase since 2015, when only 4% of patients were prescribed the pill.

Who seeks abortion care in Ohio?

2020 data from ODH shows that 59.2% patients were ages 20-29 and 28.9% were in their thirties. Black patients accounted for 48.1% of abortion care patients, with 43.8% listed as white. A majority of patients — 81.8% — had never been married. Patients were likely to already have children, with 24.3% having one child and 38.4% having two or more children.

What kind of abortion care will be available in Ohio now that Roe v. Wade is overturned?

The 2019 “Heartbeat Bill” passed by the Ohio legislature limits a patient’s right to terminate a pregnancy after the detection of a fetal heartbeat,

which happens at or after about six weeks and before many people even know they’re pregnant. There are few allowances for a person to get an abortion after six weeks, and there are no exceptions for rape or incest.

Doctors who perform abortions can be charged with a fifth-degree felony.

Previously under an injunction, that bill became state law the evening Dobbs and Roe were decided.

Ohio Republicans also are prioritizing bills like House Bill 598, which would eliminate access to abortion care almost entirely.

It would only permit an abortion in narrow medical cases, offering loose language that makes medical exemptions hazy. Multiple physicians would need to determine that the procedure is “necessary to prevent the pregnant individual’s death or a serious risk of the substantial and irreversible impairment of a major bodily function.” A doctor can get around some of the hoops in the case of an emergency, but the bill doesn’t define what qualifies as an emergency.

HB 598 uses language that does not align with terminology defined by medical professionals.

Cleveland Clinic’s definition of abortion refers to the removal of an embryo, wheras HB 598 refers to the organism developed from the point of fertilization as “an unborn child.”

Nonetheless, Ohio Gov. Mike

Selected Characteristics of Resident Induced Abortions in Ohio, 2020 Source: Ohio Department of Health

12

| clevescene.com | June 29-July 12, 2022

DeWine has said he would sign off on the legislation.

Will there be repercussions for those who perform or seek abortion care in Ohio?

Abortion care won’t just be inaccessible, but criminal, under Ohio’s new and potential laws. Those caught performing abortion care could face felony charges, hefty fines and jail time — up to $10,000 and 25 years in prison. Likewise, “promoting” abortion services would also be a misdemeanor, and a physician could lose their license.

For now, Ohio’s bills provide legal immunity to a patient; only those performing abortion procedures would be liable, but patients would be able to sue providers in a wrongful death cause of action. Other bills could be developed that criminalize more participants, including patients.

What do Ohio voters think of abortion access?

A Pew Research Center study finds 48% of Ohioans approve of abortion care access in all or most cases.

About 61% of Americans nationwide approve of abortion care.

What’s next for Ohio?

With Roe v. Wade overturned,

individual states will have the power to set their own rules about not just abortion, but also bodily autonomy and privacy. The outcome also will create vast swaths of land where abortion care is totally inaccessible, forcing patients to travel great distances for care. To access the closest abortion care providers, Ohioans would need to travel to states like Illinois, New York or Maryland.

Are abortions legal in Kentucky?

The decision on Dobbs has effectively and immediately banned abortion care in the state of Kentucky.

The Commonwealth’s 2019 “trigger” law bans abortions except in order to prevent the death of or “the serious, permanent impairment of a life-sustaining organ” of a pregnant person. It does not provide exceptions for abortions in cases of rape or incest. Kentucky’s law also states that any person who performs an abortion or provides relevant medication can be charged with a Class D felony, which is punishable by up to five years in prison.

People in Kentucky who want an abortion can travel to Ohio while abortion care is still accessable in the Buckeye state (for now). Ohio Department of Health data from 2020 shows that 5.7% of abortions in Ohio were for people from out of state.

Other Legal Rights in Ohio and Beyond Are on the Chopping Block with the Fall of Roe v. Wade AS THE UNITED STATES WRAPS up Pride month and Juneteenth celebrations, there are many questions about how the U.S. Supreme Court’s June 24 decision on abortion may affect other human and legal rights.

Jen Dye, director for the Nathaniel R. Jones Center for Race, Gender, and Social Justice at the University of Cincinnati College of Law, says overturning Roe v. Wade could open a door to many other forms of oppression.

“Roe was actually decided on this whole idea of the right to privacy, and even though on its face it was about abortion, really the court decided that the issue was about the right to privacy,” Dye says. “It’s kind of like if somebody shouted, ‘Fire!’ in a crowded building, the issue would be freedom of speech, but on its face it’s if somebody can shout, ‘Fire!’ in a crowded building.”

The right to privacy is an unenumerated right, Dye explains, which means it’s not explicitly stated in the U.S. Constitution.

“It’s well-established in a lot of case law and precedent that it is something we can imply and infer that we all have, even if it’s not explicitly stated,” she says.

In the Dobbs/Roe decision, Alito cites other rights that Americans have enjoyed that are also unenumerated rights: • The right to obtain contraceptives (Griswold v. Connecticut, 1965) • The right to interracial marriage (Loving v. Virginia, 1967) • The right to engage in private, consensual sexual acts (Lawrence v.

Texas, 2003) • The right to same-sex marriage (Obergefell v. Hodges, 2015) “There’s an erosion there,” Dye says. “Alito in his [then] draft opinion clearly lays out the groundwork to overturn anything that isn’t explicitly

stated in the Constitution.”

In the June 24 Dobbs opinion, Alito writes, “The Constitution makes no reference to abortion, and no such right is implicitly protected by any constitutional provision.” He writes that other unenumerated rights are different from abortion rights because they do not involve the moral question of life, but he also says rights that are not explicitly stated in the Constitution must be “deeply rooted in the nation’s history and traditions.”

Dye points out the other unenumerated rights like interracial and same-sex marriage or sexual privacy are very new in United States history and apply to citizens that the country’s founders never even considered when they drafted the document.

“Those responsible for the original Constitution, including the Fourteenth Amendment, did not perceive women as equals, and did not recognize women’s rights,” Sotomayor, Kagan and Breyer write in their June 24 Dobbs dissent.

“When the majority says that we must read our foundational charter as viewed at the time of ratification (except that we may also check it against the Dark Ages), it consigns women to second-class citizenship.”

Dye expands on that idea.

“I mean, the Constitution was written in the late 1700s,” she said.

“At that time period, it was white men who owned property who counted. They were the only people who could vote, they were the ones who were considered citizens, if you were a person of color, you weren’t even considered human — you were property. Women, while you were considered human, you were still

someone’s property. If we say we want to go back to what the Constitution was written as, that’s what the Constitution was written as.”

Approval of interracial marriage is far from “deeply-rooted” in our nation’s history, with Loving v.

Virginia decided only in 1967. And yet, Alabama only narrowly voted to legalize interracial marriage in 2000, and national Gallup polling in 2002 showed 29% of Americans still opposed interracial marriage.

Loving served as precedent for same-sex marriage rights that were finally passed in 2015 through Obergefell. Since then, Ohio Republicans have proposed their own “Don’t Say Gay” legislation similar to Florida’s, which prohibits schools from mentioning queer gender identity or sexual orientation, along with other laws that chip away at LGBTQ+ rights.

And Ohio has already started passing laws that signal homophobic and transphobic priorities. The recently passed House Bill 151 bans trans youth from participating in school sports, requiring controversial genderverification exams on children. The legislature approved the bill 56-28.

Additionally, multiple states are waging wars on birth control as they craft their own trigger bans on abortion care, including Missouri, Idaho and Louisiana.

Dye warns that ongoing culture wars may give way to new laws that ignite old battles, and threatening the right to privacy by overturning Roe would give lawmakers the tools to get started now.

“Some people are saying, ‘Oh that’s alarmist,’ but it wasn’t too long ago when people were saying

it’s alarmist to think they’d overturn Roe,” Dye says.

Maya McKenzie, media coordinator for Planned Parenthood Ohio, also is worried about the implications for the LGBTQ+ community.

“It obviously extends beyond the right to choose whether or not you would have an abortion,” McKenzie says. “But LGBTQ+ people, including transgender men and non-binary people, they can and do have abortions, just like anyone else.”

Maria Bruno, public policy director at Equality Ohio, testified against HB 598, the state’s latest abortion ban bill, saying it would be a disaster for LGBTQ+ Ohioans.

“At first glance, abortion rights might seem like a distinct legal issue from LGBTQ+ rights,” Bruno testifies in her opposition. “But LGBTQ+ people need this healthcare, and LGBTQ+ rights and abortion rights are tightly entwined together through case law precedent. Picking and choosing when legal precedent matters — and which foundational constitutional rights deserve preservation and which don’t — is a recipe for disaster.”

Dye says Alito’s originalist thinking could force other human rights decisions back to the states and that it will be on voters to mobilize to maintain previously protected rights — even though many states like Ohio have been gerrymandered under Republican power.

“Those local and state elections are going to be that much more important in terms of policy of where you live,” Dye says. “It’s a lot easier to get state legislation through because state legislator terms are shorter.”

—Madeline Fening

Resident Induced Abortions in Ohio, 1977–2020 Source: Ohio Department of Health June 29-July 12, 2022 | clevescene.com |

13

Ohio’s District Maps, Ballot Seats Continue to Shape Abortion Laws Within the State AS NOTED PREVIOUSLY, MANY Ohioans and most Americans want abortion care to remain in place. But the likelihood of an all-out ban on procedures in the Buckeye State is practically certain as Ohio lawmakers consider next steps after the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v.

Wade. Here, conservative political games will enable that to happen.

The push by Ohio Republicans to ban the procedure has been almost effortless. A statewide ban on abortion care after six weeks gestation already has gone into effect since the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe. Two “trigger” bills outlawing abortion care (except in vaguely outlined emergency cases) also are poised to pass.

“I think a realistic person would say there is almost no constituency in Ohio for an abortion ban, and yet that is by far the most likely policy outcome we’re looking at,” says David Niven, a University of Cincinnati political science professor who researches gerrymandering and has testified as an expert witness in court cases on the subject.

“There’s only one reason why Ohio has a legislature to the right of Mississippi, and that’s because

the maps were drawn to make it that way,” he says. “The maps we’ve been living under for the last 10 years are roughly the second-most gerrymandered in the country.”

Ohioans will pick new state lawmakers on Aug. 2 using district maps that the Ohio Supreme Court has repeatedly rejected as unconstitutional for unfairly favoring Republicans. Niven says the U.S. Supreme Court is shifting the decision on abortion care to the states without considering how redistricting is moving policy outcomes away from what voters actually want.

“I don’t think ‘Catch-22’ is a strong enough phrase,” Niven says.

Nonetheless, the rejected, unconstitutional maps are expected to stay in place for the November general election, when voters will decide who sits in the governor’s seat. Democrat Nan Whaley, who is facing off against Republican incumbant DeWine, says there is a lot she would be able do as governor to resist a ban on abortion care.

“The governor’s office in Ohio is about the fourth-most powerful in the country, not only because of line items, but because of appointments

and the work they can do on access around public health. There’s no singular position more powerful, regardless of what the legislature does, than the governor’s seat for this issue,” Whaley says.

In order to stop the passage of a ban, Whaley would need real veto power, which is something a Republican-packed House and Senate would prevent. The Ohio Senate is made up of 25 Republicans and eight Democrats, with 17 seats on the upcoming ballot. Currently, there are 64 Republicans in the Ohio House and 35 Democrats. While all their seats are on the ballot, the odds of Democrats taking enough new seats to prevent a three-fifths vote overruling a Whaley veto is slim, Niven says.

“Democrats are not going to come close to a majority. The best case scenario is they win enough votes to stop the legislature from overriding a theoretical Nan Whaley veto. But the odds don’t really favor that as an outcome,” Niven says.

There are additional offices on the ballot beyond the legislature that could affect the way a ban on abortion care is felt in Ohio.

Rep. Jeff Crossman is

challenging incumbent Dave Yost for Ohio’s attorney general position. He says that in order to give Democrats a chance at districts in a way that would be constitutional under the Ohio Supreme Court — and, in turn, give them a shot at influencing or preserving abortion care access — the attorney general needs to hold the redistricting commission’s feet to the fire. Crossman filed a criminal dereliction of duty complaint against the Republicanled commission on May 26, a lead he wants Yost to follow.

“The attorney general should be joining in saying these folks are acting in contempt, because that’s exactly what’s happening,” Crossman says. “We’re being ruled, not governed.” (Yost did not respond to our requests for comment.)

No matter what district maps are or aren’t in place for Ohio — or even if they continue to be deemed unconstitutional — the special election to vote on the legislature is scheduled for Aug. 2. The deadline to register to vote in the special election is July 5. The deadline to register for the November general election is Oct. 11.

—Madeline Fening

Statewide Abortion Bans Will Lead to Bleeding, Infection, Even Death in Ohio, Experts Say DR. DAVID BURKONS REMEMBERS how his classmates got abortion care when he attended The Ohio State University in Columbus in the 1960s.

“There was some corner down on Cleveland Avenue,” Burkons says.

“You showed up there and a car came by, you got in, you gave him the money, he takes you to have an abortion, you came back.”

By the time he graduated from medical school in 1973, the U.S. Supreme Court had just issued its decision on Roe v. Wade, legalizing abortion care nationally. Burkons has since delivered babies and terminated pregnancies, serving the choices of patients no matter their decision. Now, with the court overturning Roe 50 years later, Burkons worries about how Ohioans will access abortion care.

“There are going to be some deaths involved with this. There will be very serious consequences,” Burkons says.

14

Burkons says that rather than people slipping into a car to be whisked to a secret abortion site, people will order pills online to end a pregnancy from out-of-state, both through legal channels and from black-market sellers.

“The internet has changed everything,” Burkons says.

Most people — about 47% in Ohio and 54% in the United States — who end a pregnancy do so with a series of prescribed pills, data shows.

The first pill usually prescribed is mifepristone (brand name Mifeprex), while the second pill, misoprostol (brand name Cytotec), is taken 24-48 hours later.

Burkons, who runs several abortion clinics in Cleveland and Toledo, says about 75% of the abortion care he provides is via the pill.

That timing will be compromised if patients are forced to find pills to terminate their own pregnancies

| clevescene.com | June 29-July 12, 2022

Protesters against the U.S. Supreme Court’s Dobbs/Roe v. Wade decision and Ohio’s abortion ban gather in Cincinnati.

MARY LEBUS

online, Burkons says. The abortion pill currently is only an option during the first 10 weeks of pregnancy. Burkons says that after nine weeks and six days, patients risk heavier cases of bleeding, cramping and other complications that could require medical attention.

Burkons notes that while

pregnancy tests can be used very early, most people don’t even know they are pregnant until after their first missed period, which can be well beyond six weeks. Patients must wait for pills from out of state or overseas to ship, which may not be safe by the time they arrive in time to work before reaching Ohio’s six-

Already-Disadvantaged Ohioans Are Poised to Disproportionately Suffer from an Abortion Ban IN APRIL, THE OHIO POLICY Evaluation Network (OPEN) found that Ohioans seeking a surgical abortion would have to travel up to 339 miles if the legislature were to institute a statewide ban (medical — or pill-based — abortions also are an option). The driving expenses associated with the additional travel could add as much as $400 to an already costly procedure.

Abortion is sought predominantly by patients of limited means, according to recent research. OPEN says that roughly 75% of people seeking abortions in 2021 were classified either as poor or lowincome, or those making up to 200% of the federally designated poverty line. These patients, advocates say, will disproportionately suffer when abortions are made more burdensome and remote.

“Even under existing law, paying for an abortion is a huge impediment,” says Freda Levenson, legal director with the ACLU of Ohio. “It’s not only the cost of travel and childcare to think about, but the lost wages. Low-wage workers aren’t getting paid for time off work.”

According to the Guttmacher Institute, only 16 states — the nearest being New York, Maryland

and Illinois — and the District of Columbia have laws that protect abortion as of press time. Because some states require a 24-hour waiting period between an initial appointment and an abortion procedure, travel costs for anyone not living near state lines likely would include a hotel stay.

“Remember that many Ohioans, even those working full-time and above minimum wage, still struggle to pay for basic living expenses,” Levenson says. “Forty percent of Americans aren’t able to cover a hypothetical emergency expense of $400, using cash on hand or their savings. The struggles that low-income Ohioans face are only going to get more difficult as access becomes scarcer.”

Travel costs, childcare costs — 60% of those seeking abortions are already parents, according to the Guttmacher Institute — and foregone wages are all on top of the cost of the procedure itself.

Maggie Scotece, interim executive director of statewide abortion fund Women Have Options Ohio (WHO), says that at their earliest and cheapest, first-trimester surgical abortions cost roughly $500-$600 and get more expensive every two

weeks of gestation.

“By the third trimester, we’re talking thousands of dollars,” Scotece says. “And most insurance policies don’t cover abortions, so these procedures are paid for out of pocket.”

As of press time, abortioninducing drugs also are available as alternatives to surgical procedures.

However, legal and medical experts predict that Ohio will attempt to restrict those with Roe v. Wade’s fall, despite federal laws that permit mail-order medications.

Scotece says that WHO is often a “fund of last resort” that works with local abortion funds and other providers to ensure that patients have all their financial bases covered before traveling to get an abortion. She describes one instance in which a woman’s car broke down on her way home from a procedure and was forced to spend an extra night in a hotel, pay for her car repair and miss an additional day of work.

“For a single parent like her, one lost day of wages can be life or death,” Scotece says, adding that WHO case navigators helped the woman not only cover the cost of the hotel and car, but also paid the lost wages.

Women Have Options serves anyone traveling to or from Ohio for abortion care. While Ohio has enacted dozens of restrictions in recent years, it still has a few abortion clinics. Six are fullservice surgical centers: three in the Cleveland area and one each in Columbus, Dayton and Cincinnati.

There are three additional clinics that only provide abortion medication in Columbus, Cleveland and Toledo.

Scotece notes that there has been an influx of patients traveling to Ohio from Kentucky for abortion care and says that there are likely to be additional ripple effects of a ban, including rising costs and restrictions associated with miscarriages and infertility. And while disadvantaged Ohioans will suffer the effects of a statewide ban disproportionately, many other people will be affected.

“I think a lot of people are unaware of just how common abortion is,” Scotece says. “One in four women have abortions, and so when people think it doesn’t impact them or their families, it absolutely does. The higher and higher costs of abortion care will become really —Sam Allard untenable.”

week abortion ban that just went into place — or for the even stricter laws in the pipeline.

Burkons doesn’t like those odds.

“I think what’s going to happen is people will find out they’re pregnant.

They’ll find these sites, they’ll order the pills, the pills will come, and it’s going to take a week or two to get the pills, so they’re already going to be further along and it’s going to be a much higher chance they’re going to have problems. And there’s going to be no one for them to call,” Burkons says.

Patients who take the right abortion pills within the first ten weeks are likely to have a successful experience, Burkons says, but the uncertainty of how far along a pregnancy might be coupled with the delay of shipping the meds is still only part of the risk. Making sure you’re getting the right pills online is Burkons’ next fear.

“What you’re going to see are a lot of websites — some are going to be legitimate, some are not going to be legitimate,” Burkons says. “If you go on to the internet now and look

up ‘abortion,’ you get these crisis pregnancy centers that have very professional and misleading websites that are there to confuse women and keep them from having abortions.

I guarantee you these anti-choice people are going to be putting up websites like that, and if people get any medication, it’s probably going to be Smarties [candy] or something.”

Burkons says that even if a patient can’t get their hands on both misoprostol and mifepristone, taking just misoprostol could work in some cases — but the two drugs are most effective together. If the pills are limited in supply, Burkons says there will be a higher rate of incomplete abortions, putting patients at major risk for medical emergencies and — depending on new laws that may crop up — criminal charges.

“Infection, massive hemorrhage, that sort of stuff,” Burkons says.

“They’re going to be bleeding and need to go to the emergency room.”

We talked to an emergency room nurse during a Planned Parenthood rally in Cincinnati in May. She didn’t want to disclose her name for fear of

reprimand from her employer.

“We don’t receive training for this at all,” the nurse says. “They’re putting their bodies at risk, their lives at risk.”

She adds that current emergency room staff have almost entirely worked in a world in which abortion care is accessible. Now, she says, they must prepare for patients who are managing medication abortions without the assistance of a doctor and receiving surgical abortions in non-medical environments.

“They’re not going to be able to give information on what’s been done to them,” she says. “We’re talking permanent bodily harm. Infection.

Death.”

Whether or not Ohioans will be able to legally order medical abortion pills through the mail remains a legal gray area. Burkons says that because Ohio can’t prosecute doctors from outside state lines, it’s just a matter of time before lawmakers go directly after the patients seeking to stop or terminate their own pregnancies.

“The anti-choice people always say

they’re not after the women. They call me the criminal,” Burkons says.

“But my parking lot is full and I don’t advertise. People seek us out. When there’s no physicians in the state to prosecute because all this is coming from out of state, you know they’re going to go after the women.”

Burkons fears that potential trouble from doctors or the law will keep some patients away from emergency rooms. He advises those searching for abortion pills online to try ordering from a website with a customer support phone number to speak to a doctor or nurse.

He also emphasizes that misoprostol and mifepristone are overwhelmingly safe and effective, but patients who are on blood thinners or are anemic should be careful, as they could lose a dangerous amount of blood.

Burkons adds that even people who aren’t pregnant have been ordering abortion pills.

“They have a long expiration period,” Burkons says. “Women are very smart people. They’re going to —Madeline Fening find a way.”

June 29-July 12, 2022 | clevescene.com |

15

16

| clevescene.com | June 29-July 12, 2022

With an Abortion Ban in Place, Ohio’s Attempts to Court Large Companies May Stall IN RECENT MONTHS, OHIO has put on a full-press campaign through JobsOhio, the state’s quasipublic economic development agency, to lure companies to the state. The $50 million ad campaign has been deployed in Texas, New York, and other states with messages touting Ohio’s business-friendly zero-percent corporate tax rate and cheap cost of living.

While major relocation or expansion decisions made by national corporations and large businesses often hinge not on broad reputational strokes of a state (Ohio’s leaders have long fought the idea that the state is “flyover country,” for example) but on the ability to hire workers and extract extravagant subsidies (such as Ohio giving Intel $2.1 billion in incentives to build its new chip hub in Columbus), low taxes and affordable cost of living certainly play a role in courting business.

Abortion rights might be a new carrot in those races or — in Ohio’s case — a checkmark against a state.

Some large companies in Ohio and other conservative states like Texas and Florida already have been solicited by New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy to relocate to a state that will protect access to abortion care.

“The overturning of a woman’s right to bodily autonomy — and the chilling effect this decision will have on your ability to attract and retain top female talent by being located in a state which has refused to recognize women’s reproductive freedom — cannot be ignored,” Murphy said in a June letter, which was first reported by NPR. The call to move corporations to states without abortion restrictions will get louder, experts say.

“The abortion restrictions are one part of a larger state culture that is not friendly or is hostile toward women, and so attracting top talent, women and families, it’s going to be really hard for some of the businesses in these states,” Nicole Mason, CEO of the Institute for Women’s Policy Research, told Fortune in May. In the Supreme Court’s 1992 decision for Planned Parenthood v Casey, the majority decision noted, “The ability of women to participate equally in the economic and social life of the nation has been facilitated by their ability to control their reproductive lives.”

An abortion ban in Ohio will directly and negatively impact that ability, experts say. In May, economic

Ohio’s abortion ban could put more people out of work.

analysis firm Scioto Analysis released a survey showing that 22 of 24 economists interviewed agree abortion bans in Ohio would have a detrimental effect on the workforce.

“The empirical evidence is very clear about the negative impact of unplanned pregnancies on women’s educational attainment, especially when support services are unavailable or unaffordable,” Dr. Fadhel Kaboub, an associate professor of economics at Denison University, said in the report.

“Economic research overwhelmingly indicates that abortion rights greatly affect the educational level, career opportunities, earning and wealth enhancement potential for women,” added Dr. Diane Monaco, an assistant professor of economics at Heidelberg University.

“Abortion rights advantages are especially profound for historically marginalized women as well.”

A disproportionate burden will be carried by those least able to carry it, says Mikaela Smith, a research scientist with the Ohio Policy Evaluation Network at Ohio State University.

“Research reflects similar patterns of decreased access to abortion and other reproductive healthcare services among rural residents, suggesting that burdens associated with abortion restrictions will be felt particularly hard by those living in rural areas,” Smith says. “Given that we know that a lack of financial resources is one of the primary reasons people seek an abortion and that being denied an abortion is associated with poorer economic outcomes, losing access to abortion — particularly among rural

MARY LEBUS

folks as well as people of color and those experiencing financial burdens more broadly — will surely result in negative economic impacts at both the individual and community levels.”

Recent studies by the Institute For Women’s Policy Research back that up, showing that in 2020, statewide abortion restrictions caused $4.5 billion in economic losses. The vast majority of that hefty figure was shouldered by Ohio women ages 1544, who experienced reduced earning levels and a higher number of job changes. They also lost opportunities for future earnings due to time away from work when they were forced to carry pregnancies to term and care for children.

These losses could increase even further as a statewide abortion ban will keep more women out of the workforce, creating a loss of productivity, talent and wages that could have been taxed and spent back out into the state economy.

An Ohio abortion ban also may mean higher costs for taxpayers, given the data on abortion patient demographics and the impact that not being able to attain one has on the individual’s finances. Ohio residents could be on the hook for contributing to more public assistance, as funds from Women, Infants and Children (WIC) or Temporary Assistance to Needy Families (TANF) will be used by those dealing with the economic ramifications of full-term pregnancies and children.

Incoming businesses and investments to the state could also be affected, including high-profile sectors like the film industry.

A-list films like Carol and Captain America: The Winter Soldier were

filmed in Cincinnati and Cleveland, respectively, and Ohio routinely is a beacon for other major films.

Business has been growing, too, thanks in part to a generous state tax credit program. The Greater Cleveland Film Commission last year cited a study by Olsberg SPI, an international consultancy agency, that found the Ohio film industry has created $1.2 billion in economic impact since 2009 and has created 6,192 “full-time equivalent jobs.”

But professional organizations such as the Writers Guild of America are already urging members to avoid states that enact abortion bans now.

“We call on our employers to consider the laws of each state when choosing production locations to ensure that our members will never be denied full access to reproductive healthcare,” the WGA said in a statement in early May (the Greater Cleveland Film Commission didn’t respond to a request for comment).

Nationally, some large corporations have begun to step in, offering extra time off and financial benefits to employees who need to travel out-of-state for an abortion, and Cincinnati announced June 27 that it’s rewriting its healthcare policy, as well. But that may not be enough to keep Ohio workers — or businesses — from moving to locations with fewer health restrictions.

“Eight in 10 college-educated knowledge workers — top talent — view access to abortion and reproductive health care as part of gender equity in the workplace, no more, no less,” says Jen Stark, senior director for corporate strategy at the Tara Health Foundation, in an interview with Voice Of America.

“Employers that want to attract top talent into states that have social policies that don’t align with their values will have to do more to make up for this.”

—Gennifer Harding-Gosnell and Vince Grzegorek

This feature is a collaborative effort by reporters and editors at CityBeat in Cincinnati and Cleveland Scene in Cleveland, including Sam Allard, Allison Babka, Madeline Fening, Vince Grzegorek, Gennifer HardingGosnell, Maggy McDonel, Ashley Moor and Maija Zummo.

scene@clevescene.com t@clevelandscene

June 29-July 12, 2022 | clevescene.com |

17

Everything to do in Cleveland for the next two weeks

Monster Jam comes to FirstEnergy Stadium. See: Saturday, July 2.

Photo: Jeff Niesel

GET OUT

WED 06/29 Music on the Malls This free weekly summer music series on Mall C features live music, outdoor seating and food trucks each week. Mall C offers a park-like setting and views of Lake Erie. The event takes place from 5 to 7:30 p.m. On select dates, the Cleveland Division of Police Mindfulness Group will present a free yoga class at 4:30 p.m. downtowncleveland.com.

THU 06/30 Hallelujah: Leonard Cohen, A Journey, A Song This feature-length documentary that screens tonight at 7 at the Rock Hall includes testimonies from major recording artists for whom Leonard Cohen’s “Hallelujah” has become a personal touchstone. Approved for production by Cohen just before his 80th birthday in 2014, this film

18

accesses “a wealth of never-beforeseen archival materials from the Cohen Trust including Cohen’s personal notebooks, journals and photographs, performance footage, and extremely rare audio recordings and interviews.” Following the screening, consulting producer Alan Light will join directors Dan Geller and Dayna Goldfine for a Q&A. Tickets cost $10.

1100 Rock and Roll Blvd., 216-5158444, rockhall.com.

FRI

07/01

Guardians vs. New York Yankees The New York Yankees have rebounded from a disappointing 2021 season and have played spectacular baseball this year.

The team swept the Guardians in New York earlier this year, but the Guards performed well in recent interleague play, sweeping the Rockies and taking two of three from the formidable L.A. Dodgers.

Tonight’s game should provide a

| clevescene.com | June 29-July 12, 2022

good challenge as the two teams launch a three-game series at Progressive Field. Tonight’s game begins at 7:10. Check the team’s website for more info.

2401 Ontario St., 216-420-4487, mlb. com/guardians.

SAT 07/02 Monster Jam Grave Digger and all the monster trucks you know and love will be on hand tonight at FirstEnergy Stadium for Monster Jam, the annual monster truck competition.

The mud starts to fly at 2:30 p.m.

Check the event’s website for ticket prices and more info.

100 Alfred Lerner Way, 440-891-5000, monsterjam.com.

SUN 07/03 A Salute to America Blossom’s traditional star-spangled celebration returns as the Blossom

Festival Band plays a program featuring patriotic marches, Broadway favorites, an Armed Forces salute and more. The concert concludes with the “1812” Overture and fireworks. Performances take place at 8 tonight and tomorrow night at Blossom. Check the Cleveland Orchestra website for more info.

1145 W. Steels Corners Rd., Cuyahoga Falls, 216-231-1111, clevelandorchestra.com.

MON 07/04 Journey Tribute by E5C4P3 The popular Journey tribute act will undoubtedly deliver spot on renditions of hits such as “Don’t Stop Believin’” and “Open Arms” tonight at 7 at Music Box Supper Club.

Tickets cost $28 in advance, $35 on the day of the show. The concert will wrap up just in time for you to walk outside the club and take in Cleveland’s fireworks display.

1148 Main Ave., 216-242-1250, musicboxcle.com.

TUE 07/05

15425 Detroit Ave., Lakewood, 216226-8275, lakewoodalive.org.

Lyrical Rhythms Open Mic and Chill

SAT 07/09

This long-running open mic night at the B Side allows some of the city’s best rappers and poets to strut their stuff. The event begins at 8 with a comedy session dubbed 2 Drinks & a Joke with host Ant Morrow. The open mic performances begin at 10 p.m. Tickets cost $5 in advance, $10 at the door., $5.

2785 Euclid Heights Blvd., Cleveland Heights, 216-932-1966, bsideliquorlounge.com.

WED 07/06 Video Game Night The first Wednesday of the month, Platform Beer Co. hosts Video Game Night at its Lorain Ave. Pub. The brewery will have five tables hooked up with old consoles (Nintendo, SNES, Game Cube, Genesis, and a Playstation) as well as Quiplash set up on the TV to play. If you don’t want to play, you can just join the audience and vote for your favorite responses. Admission is free, and the event takes place from 7 to 10 p.m. first Wednesday of every month.

Continues through Dec. 7.

4125 Lorain Ave., 216-202-1386, facebook.com/platformbeers.

THU 07/07 Cleveland Tall Ships Festival Presented in conjunction with Tall Ships America, this event that takes place in downtown Cleveland features live entertainment, exhibits, food and tours aboard the fleet.

Additional event activities include sail-aways, “Ask the Captain” forums, photo ops, a festival marketplace and family-friendly activities. Tickets are required for Festival entry and ship tours, as well as the two new special events: Happy Hour at the Dock and Fireworks at the Festival. Check the website for ticket prices and more info. tallshipscle.com.

FRI

07/08

Front Porch Concert Series Each Friday through July 29, the Lakewood Public Library hosts a “front porch concert” featuring a local musician. The 2022 edition will include everything from reggae to rock to soul and pop. All concerts start at 7 p.m. and will be performed on the front steps of Lakewood Public Library. Admission is free.

Grand Slam Beerfest You can sample more than 150 local and craft brews as well as new craft wines and spirits at this annual event that comes to Progressive Field today. A day session begins at 1 p.m., and a night session begins at 7 p.m.

Consult the website for ticket prices and more info.

2401 Ontario St., 216-420-4487, grandslambeerfest.com.

SUN 07/10 Kevin Hart: Reality Check The diminutive comedian got his start in standup and quickly became a sought-after actor who’s appeared in films such as Scary Movie 3, Think Like a Man, Ride Along, The Secret Life of Pets, Captain Underpants: The First Epic Movie, Central Intelligence and Hobbs & Shaw. He brings his latest standup show to Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse tonight at 7. Check the arena’s website for more info.

One Center Court, 216-420-2000, rocketmortgagefieldhouse.com.

MON 07/11 Guardians vs. Chicago White Sox With the addition of a make-up game that takes place tomorrow at 1:10 p.m., this series against the Chicago White Sox will find the two teams facing off four times at Progressive Field. Tonight’s game begins at 7:10.

Check the club’s website for more info on the series.

2401 Ontario St., 216-420-4487, mlb. com/guardians.

TUE 07/12 Ain’t Too Proud Nominated for 12 Tony Awards, Ain’t Too Proud tells the story of the Temptations and focuses on themes such as brotherhood, family, loyalty and betrayal in chronicling how the musical group become popular during a time of civil unrest.

Tonight’s performance takes place at 7:30 at the State Theatre. Consult the Playhouse Square website for more info. The play runs through July 31.

1519 Euclid Ave., 216-241-6000, playhousesquare.org.

scene@clevescene.com t@clevelandscene June 29-July 12, 2022 | clevescene.com |

19

20

| clevescene.com | June 29-July 12, 2022

June 29-July 12, 2022 | clevescene.com |

21

22

| clevescene.com | June 29-July 12, 2022

June 29-July 12, 2022 | clevescene.com |

23

24

| clevescene.com | June 29-July 12, 2022

June 29-July 12, 2022 | clevescene.com |

25

26

| clevescene.com | June 29-July 12, 2022

June 29-July 12, 2022 | clevescene.com |

27

28

| clevescene.com | June 29-July 12, 2022

June 29-July 12, 2022 | clevescene.com |

29

30

| clevescene.com | June 29-July 12, 2022

June 29-July 12, 2022 | clevescene.com |

31

32

| clevescene.com | June 29-July 12, 2022

June 29-July 12, 2022 | clevescene.com |

33

34

| clevescene.com | June 29-July 12, 2022

June 29-July 12, 2022 | clevescene.com |

35

36

| clevescene.com | June 29-July 12, 2022

June 29-July 12, 2022 | clevescene.com |

37

Hard Day’s Night Beatles Tribute

Fri. July 1

Sun. July 3

Dave Mason

Jordan Rudess

Cordovas

with special guests TRIAL BY FIRE

(Dream Theater)

Sat. July 9

ABC

Brett Dennen

Wed. July 13

Sun. July 10

Sat. July 16

ALSO COMING IN 2022

Tuesday, July 12 NEW! Friday, July 15 Friday, July 22 Friday, July 28 Saturday, July 30 Wednesday, Aug. 3 Thursday, Aug. 4 Saturday, Aug. 13 Wednesday, Aug. 17

| | | | | | | | |

Sunday, Aug. 21 | Saturday, Aug. 27 Thursday, Sept. 1 Saturday, Sept. 3 Thursday, Sept. 8

| | | |

Friday, Sept. 9 NEW! Friday, Sept. 23 NEW! Thursday, Oct. 27 NEW! Thursday, Nov. 3

| | | |

Todd Rundgren SOLD OUT! Duwayne Burnside Jon Anderson The voice of YES Keillor and Company SOLD OUT! Tinsley Ellis The High Kings The Abrams Steep Canyon Rangers Al Stewart Greatest Hits Tour w/Empty Pockets The Wallflowers w/Marc Lee Shannon BeauSoleil avec Michael Doucet Al DiMeola Hayes Carll Duane Betts feat. Johnny Stachela & Berry Duane Oakley "Dog Daze Acoustic Tour" The Fixx with Jill Sobule Steve Kimock & Friends Jon McLaughlin with Kris Allen Tab Benoit

AT THE GOODYEAR THEATER

Get tix at goodyeartheater.com or ticketmaster.com

Foghat

with special guest PAT TRAVERS Thurs., Aug. 11

38

Don McLean

American Pie 50th Anniversary Tour Fri., Sept. 2

| clevescene.com | June 29-July 12, 2022

EAT THE SUNNY SIDE

A return to the chef’s roots, Karen Small’s Juneberry is the dazzling daytime cafe Cleveland deserves It’s difficult to disassociate Karen Small from her trailblazing farm-totable bistro Flying Fig. For diners too young to recall meals at the Ninth Street Grill at the Galleria, where Small helmed the kitchen in the late `80s, or the long-departed Fulton Avenue Café in Ohio City, Small and the Fig have been inexorably linked in our collective minds for more than two decades.

But it was Small’s relatively short-lived exurban café Jezebel’s, which she ran in Bainbridge prior to opening the Fig, that offered perhaps the most accurate glimpse into the chef’s culinary DNA. The operating hours of that breezy breakfast, lunch and brunch spot dovetailed with Small’s own circadian rhythm as a self-described morning person. Now, after 23 years of working against nature, Small has swapped the twilight hours of dinner service for the break-of-day breakfast and lunch game.

In ways that extend beyond its hours of service, Juneberry Table is a fitting match for Small’s approach in the kitchen. The chef’s unfussy, seemingly effortless style of cooking is tailor made for sunny breakfast dishes and wholesome lunch plates.

Hers has always been an ingredientdriven process, but here, that process is shaped largely by the chef’s years spent living in Southeast Ohio, the western edge of Appalachia. In Small’s hands, humble ingredients like buckwheat, sorghum, rhubarb and cornmeal, along with seasonal greens, fruit preserves, fermented vegetables and cured meats, exit the kitchen in attractive and delicious form.

Every restaurant should have a signature item and at Juneberry, that dish might be the biscuits ($6) with sorghum butter and jam. The immeasurably satisfying biscuits are meltingly tender, perfectly balanced between sweet and salty, with ubercrispy edges from bits of cheese that leak out and caramelize on the hot sheet pan. The whipped sorghum butter is creamy and sweet, with hints of molasses and sassafras. On my next visit, I plan to order the biscuits and gravy, which features

Photo by Karin McKenna

By Douglas Trattner

those stellar biscuits, soft scrambled eggs and velvety mushroom gravy.

Operating off an all-day menu, Juneberry gives diners the choice to go either the breakfast or lunch route. Some dishes, like the Breakfast Salad ($14), blur the lines. A bountiful assortment of greens and veggies is dressed in a flavorful but delicate vinaigrette

sturdy base to an avocado toast ($10) with chunky avocado, a kiss of honey, nuts and a pile of greens.

Diners can add an egg ($2) or bacon ($2) — or both — to their toast.

There’s something about Juneberry’s chicken and waffles ($16) that sets it apart from the rest.

Maybe it’s the Ohio cornmeal waffles, or the pickle-brined local chicken,

JUNEBERRY TABLE 3900 LORAIN AVE., CLEVELAND, 216-331-0338 JUNEBERRYTABLE.COM

and “garnished” with two golden, jammy eggs, two thick strips of glazed bacon, and toast in the form of sourdough croutons.

For purists, there’s the Juneberry Breakfast ($12), a diner-style platter with a pair of lacy-edged fried eggs, griddled potatoes tricked out with bacon and cheddar, and thick toast and jam. Small isn’t doing the bread baking as she was at Jezebel’s, electing instead to bring in goods from great local bakeries like Leavened. Those hearty, often seeded artisan-style breads are the unsung hero at Juneberry, serving as the

which is dredged in panko and fried to the perfect chestnut brown. To dress it up, there’s Ohio maple syrup and that alluring sorghum butter.

The kitchen veers away from the conventional three-slice stack and triangle cut with its Club ($14). This meaty sandwich is stuffed with greatquality smoked ham and turkey, bacon, thin-sliced pickles, Swiss, lettuce and sauce. It’s griddled until warmed through and sliced in half.

Whether she wanted to or not, Small added a burger ($14) to the menu and it’s one of the best I’ve had recently. Tucked into a Good

Company milk bun, the smashed patty gets the classic treatment with American cheese, lettuce, pickles and comeback sauce. There’s also a fried bologna and egg sandwich and one starring “cold BBQ meatloaf” that sounds intriguing.

If there’s a more pleasant room in which to gently ease into one’s day, I’d love to see it. This sun-soaked urban diner, formerly home to Jack Flaps, dazzles with light and color, but in an understated, peaceful way.

And unlike most diners, this one offers guests fizzy pét-nats by the glass, along with a nice selection of other wines, beer and even cocktails.

Over the 20-plus years that Small has been cooking in Ohio City, she has watched her neighborhood evolve into one of the most in-demand residential communities in town.

Many of her neighbors work from home, affording them the modern luxury of an unhurried weekday breakfast or lunch. To those people, Juneberry is now an indispensable amenity.

dtrattner@clevescene.com t@dougtrattner

June 29-July 12, 2022 | clevescene.com |

39

40

| clevescene.com | June 29-July 12, 2022

Photo courtesy Salt

EAT BITES

Jill Vedaa and Jessica Parkison to open new restaurant in former Spice space

By Douglas Trattner “AS SOON AS WE OPENED IN Lakewood we told each other that we definitely wanted to open at least two more spots,” says Salt chef and co-owner Jill Vedaa. “We started searching for another place in our second year.”

Vedaa and business partner Jessica Parkison have been on the hunt for nearly five years to find the perfect home for their next restaurant. They found that space in the heart of Detroit Shoreway. The pair has just announced that they are taking over the former Spice Kitchen property at the corner of Detroit and W. 58th Street.

“This is prime,” says Vedaa. “The amount of people that are in that area already and will be in the next five to 10 years is insane.”

Neither Vedaa or Parkison is in a huge hurry to open the doors. Vedaa says that they will take their time with the renovations, which could take as long as one year.

“We really want to change how it looks inside,” says the chef. “Because it was such an iconic restaurant for so long, we want people to walk in and think that this is a different place. We’re not in a huge rush because we want to make sure it’s the way we want it.”

Fans of the six-year-old Lakewood restaurant can expect no changes to that popular operation, nor should they expect a carbon copy in Gordon Square.

“This is not going to be Salt 2,” says Vedaa.

While the concept is still being hashed out, it’s likely that small plates will have a role in the final arrangement.

Chef Michael Grieve Takes Over the Grocery in Ohio City, With Ambitious Plans to Follow After seven years as chef at Tartine Bistro in Rocky River, Michael Grieve was making the rounds at various local restaurant kitchens

while pursuing a place of his own.

A chance meeting with Rachel Kingsbury ended up with the two exchanging ownership of The Grocery. As of last week, Grieve is the proud proprietor of the Ohio Citybased café and market (2600 Detroit Ave., 216-387-1969).

“It was a happy dose of luck,” says Grieve.

Located at The Quarter near the intersection of W. 25th and Detroit, the three-year-old Grocery stocks staples like yogurt, eggs, bread and seasonal produce, while offering café-style foods like coffee, smoothies, salads, rice bowls and sandwiches.

As a chef, Grieve sees plenty of room for improvement.

“They were not really drawing business or living up to the potential that the landlord was expecting,” he explains. “I think they gave a valiant effort for what they knew. I’m a chef, but I don’t want to change it so much that there’s a shock. I want to continue the café food but elevate it.”

Visitors can expect everything to get a boost as the chef settles in. Open from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m., the Grocery offers an updated coffee and smoothie program alongside breakfast dishes like granola and berries, buttermilk biscuit sandwiches, brioche French toast sticks with maple syrup, and waffles capped with sweet or savory toppings. Eggs and omelets are made to order. The lunch menu offers a few snacks like confit chicken wings and pizza bites, a handful of salads, and sandwiches starring fried chicken,

oven-roasted turkey and seasonal produce.

Grieve plans on stocking the shelves with more local products, food and otherwise.

But the owner has more ambitious plans in store for the space, he divulges. His desire is to shutter the Grocery at the end of the year, renovate the space and replace it with a combination seafood restaurant and retail/wholesale fish market. In addition to the food, there will be a full bar and programming like fish butchery and cooking classes.

“Since I moved back here from California, I just felt that Cleveland has lacked sorely in the seafood game,” he explains. “I’m trying to bring seafood to Cleveland that you can’t get at Heinen’s or Giant Eagle.”

But more than that, the chef hopes to light a fire under what he considers an increasingly monotonous restaurant landscape.

“I want to breathe some life back into the Cleveland culinary scene,” says. “When I moved back, everything was blowing up and we were on this giant upswing. It seemed like everybody was really excited about food and then it just started to peter off and it’s tired and it’s boring and I want to do my best to change that.”

Shake It, a Casual Burger Concept from FWD Hospitality, Coming to Van Aken District After two bites at the upscale-casual

apple, Michael Schwartz is going in a completely different direction with his space at Van Aken District in Shaker Heights. After closing Kindred Spirit late last year, which replaced the short-lived Sawyer’s restaurant, Schwartz of Forward Hospitality says that he is opening “a fun, approachable, simple and quick” burger concept.

Shake It is a family-friendly eatery with roots in a Chicago project of the same name, which has been in the works since 2017. While far from edgy or original, the burger restaurant does fill a gap in the Van Aken District market.

When it opens later this summer, Shake It will feature a menu of single, double and, possibly, triple burgers (not smashed, Schwartz is quick to point out) with Shake It sauce and various condiments. The burgers will be joined on the menu by a veggie burger, hot and nonspicy fried chicken sandwiches, a salad and sides. Given the name, customers can count on milkshakes, boozy or dry.

Schwartz says that the restaurant will be heavy on technology, with guests being able to place orders at kiosks, on their phones or in-person at the service counter, which doubles as the bar. There will be TVs and tables for dine-in service.

It’s business as usual at Garden City, the rooftop cocktail bar above, Schwartz adds.

dtrattner@clevescene.com t@dougtrattner

June 29-July 12, 2022 | clevescene.com |

41

42

| clevescene.com | June 29-July 12, 2022

June 29-July 12, 2022 | clevescene.com |

43

44

| clevescene.com | June 29-July 12, 2022

Man Man.

Photo: Dan Monick

MUSIC

‘ALL GAS AND NO BRAKE’

Art rockers Man Man bring unhinged live show to the Grog Shop

By Jeff Niesel RYAN KATTNER OF MAN MAN had a unique upbringing. A selfdescribed Air Force brat, he was born in Texas but subsequently moved all over the world. As a result, he didn’t experience the typical American adolescent experience of listening to what was popular on the radio.

“I feel that at a time when I would’ve been influenced by peer pressure, second to fourth grade, I was in Germany, so that influenced me in strange ways,” says Kattner, who adopts the moniker Honus Honus when recording and performing with indie rockers Man Man. He spoke via phone from his Los Angeles home. Man Man performs on Tuesday, July 5, at the Grog Shop in Cleveland Heights.

“My first CD, for instance, was the soundtrack to La Bamba. My mother and I saw it on the Air Force base.

We also saw Fred Astaire movies. My dad listened to classical music and classic rock. My first cassette tapes were the Fat Boys and Weird Al. It’s a weird hodgepodge of influences.”

Initially, Kattner convinced his parents to buy him a Casio keyboard

because he wanted to experiment with the sound effects on it. His parents agreed as long he committed to taking piano lessons.

He then picked up the guitar for a bit before migrating back to piano after he bought a Rhodes keyboard for $400.

“At the time, that was my rent,” he says of the purchase. “I eschewed paying rent at the time and bought this electric piano. I didn’t know what I was doing, but I was tired of playing guitar and wasn’t very good at playing guitar. There was a physicality to playing piano that I liked, and I learned to play by playing with drummers, so my playing was rhythmically informed.”

Man Man came together in Philadelphia in the early 2000s.

“I never intended to be in a band,” Kattner says. “It was something I was doing post-college. I went to school for screenwriting and playwriting. I thought it was a fun exercise and outlet.”

Man Man benefited from the fact that Philadelphia embraced all kinds of music, ranging from hip-hop to art rock.

MAN MAN, HARD TAYS NIGHT 8 P.M. TUESDAY, JULY 5, GROG SHOP, 2785 EUCLID HEIGHTS BLVD., CLEVELAND HEIGHTS, 216-321-5588. TICKETS: $12-$16, GROGSHOP.GS.

“Philadelphia is a great, weird city,” Kattner says. “It has a very strong identity and sense of self.

That comes across in what I was doing musically. There was a sense of ‘I’m going to do what I do, and I don’t care if you don’t like it.’ I owe everything to Philadelphia as far as where I come from musically. It’s a city that has Sun Ra and Hall and Oates and Meek Mills and I could go on and on. There are so many different sounds and a punk attitude.

At the time, cool art bands were happening. I loved that scene. But I honestly really just wanted to make one record and get on with my life.”

For 2020’s Dream Hunting in the Valley of the In-Between, Man Man’s first release for the indie imprint Sub Pop Records, Kattner sought to once again evolve.

“I feel as if I’m learning something new with every album,” he says. “You want to continuously challenge yourself. When I relocated to L.A. in 2013, it was a matter of challenging myself. I was fortunate to meet [producer] Cyrus Ghahremani. We just connected instantly. I recorded with him. He had a home studio. We spent three years tracking the songs.”

The album came out in the midst of the pandemic, and the band wasn’t able to tour in support of it. Kattner was crushed.

“It was absolutely devastating,” he says. “It was our first release in six years. We had the option to push the release, but I didn’t want to. I felt like people needed something like it at the time. Music is a great salve when you’re trapped inside. Career-wise, it was pretty devastating. It makes you just wanna quit.”

An album highlight, “Cloud Nein” features gruff vocals and retro-sounding instrumentation. Its cooing backing vocals and woozy horns give it a Beatles-esque vibe.

“It’s definitely influenced by an ex-person I played in the band with,” he says of the song. “When we did the video for that, I just used Shutterstock footage of an old man dancing on the street, and the video ends with the world exploding.

We did the video and then COVID hit, and I have this song of a man dancing in the street by himself with the world ending. I didn’t mean to predict that.”

Kattner says he’s excited to play songs from Dream Hunting, but he’s also planning to introduce about six new songs on the tour as well.

“Our band is awesome,” says Kattner. “We are six deep. We’re a great live band — legendary. In this day of information, it’s rare to be a band that flies under the radar. Unfortunately, we still get to hold that banner above our heads.

We’ve been rehearsing for the past two weeks because we’re trying to get about 30 new songs under our belts. You go see a band, and they maybe play 15 songs. We play twentysomething songs and there’s no banter, baby. It’s all gas and no brake. We can squeeze 24 or 25 songs into a set. It breaks us, but this is what we do for people. We’re excited to play these shows, and we love the Grog Shop.”

jniesel@clevescene.com t@jniesel

June 29-July 12, 2022 | clevescene.com |

45

46

| clevescene.com | June 29-July 12, 2022

THURSDAY JUNE 30 | 6-10 PM

FRIDAY JULY 1 | 7-11 PM

TED RISER

SPAZMATICS

SATURDAY JULY 2 | 1-5 PM

SATURDAY JULY 2 | 7-11 PM

ROCK RADIO

CUSTARD PIE

SUNDAY JULY 3 | 1-5 PM

SUNDAY JULY 3 | 7-11 PM

K.C. & COMPANY

OUT OF EDEN EAGLES TRIBUTE

MONDAY JULY 4 | 2-6 PM

WEDNESDAY JULY 6 | 6-10 PM

ARMSTRONG BEARCAT

CHEESEBURGER IN PARADISE JIMMY BUFFET TRIBUTE

-UPCOMING BANDSTHURSDAY JULY 7 FREE SALSA LESSONS WITH VIVA 6-7 PM THURSDAY JULY 7 SAMMY DELEON Y SU ORQUESTRA 7-10 PM FRIDAY JULY 8 DISCO INFERNO 7-11 PM SATURDAY JULY 9 CATS ON HOLIDAY 1-5 PM SATURDAY JULY 9 COUNTRY REDFORD 7-11 PM SUNDAY JULY 10 56 DAZE 2-6 PM WEDNESDAY JULY 13 FUNKOLOGY 6-10 PM

June 29-July 12, 2022 | clevescene.com |

47

48

| clevescene.com | June 29-July 12, 2022

Sarah Borges

Photo: Linderpix

MUSIC

IN THE ‘90S, SINGER-SONGwriter Sarah Borges had the good fortune to be in the right place at the right time. She grew up about 40 miles outside of Boston.

A teenager at the time, she gravitated to the city’s heralded indie music scene and regularly saw homegrown bands such as the Pixies, Buffalo Tom, Morphine and Throwing Muses.

“It was indie rock central,” she says of the time via phone from her Boston home. Sarah Borges performs on Friday, July 1, at the Beachland Tavern. “I could see all those bands play locally when I was a teenager.

That gave me the mindset that anyone could be in a band. I thought I could be in a band. The first song I wrote was ‘Wisk,’ like the laundry soap. I can’t remember what the words were, but I know I was trying to be super evasive and serious — some dumb crap.”

As much as Borges loved Boston’s indie rock scene, she also took inspiration from the city’s thriving roots scene.

“I saw these country bands at the clubs in Boston,” she says. “It wasn’t the records I was hearing, but it was the bands I was seeing every night. I knew I wanted to do that. When I was writing songs in that vein, it was way easier than writing indie rock stuff.

I could just speak plainly and tell a story about a murder or whatever, and it was completely acceptable.”

After playing a gig at a South by Southwest showcase in 2004, she

BY ANY MEANS NECESSARY

Sarah Borges recorded the vocals for her terrific new album in a closet

By Jeff Niesel

SARAH BORGES, JONAH TOLCHIN 8 P.M., FRIDAY, JULY 1, BEACHLAND TAVERN, 15711 WATERLOO RD., 216-383-1124.

TICKETS: $15, BEACHLANDBALLROOM.COM.

signed her first record deal with Houston’s Blue Corn Records. She’s continued to tour and put out records ever since. In fact, after leaving Blue Corn Records, she’s returned to the label for her latest effort, Together Alone. Since she wrote and recorded the songs for it during the height of the pandemic, it proved to be a challenging but rewarding experience. Struggling to make ends meet, she worked as a courier and then found time when she wasn’t driving to work on the album.

“I’m no longer married, but I have a son who’s 10, and he lives with me, and you never want your kid to go without, so I felt pressure to earn money somehow,” says Borges. “It was a Craigslist ad that I answered

[for a courier]. I thought I could do it because I could listen to music and plan my world domination. I’m trying to walk the fine line between being a responsible parent and doing what I love to do.”

Using her son’s closet as a vocal booth, she would write a song and make a demo on her phone and send it back to producer and guitarist Eric “Roscoe” Amble. He would send it back to Borges with a drum loop.

He used people that he knew. John Perrin from NRBQ, for example, plays on a few tracks.

The album opens with “Wasting My Time,” a mid-tempo song that pairs Borges’ supple voice with a hard-rocking guitar solo.

“It’s the first one I wrote, and the last song on the record is the last song I wrote,” Borges explains when asked about the tune. “I first did the vocals and acoustic guitar and we had drums. I lived with the mix of that for a while. With some of the stuff, we got lucky. I recorded on my phone with a special microphone.

You can’t edit your track. You have to do it in one take. It has to be one

continuous take. I had to sing them umpteenth times, so I got really good at some of them.”

“She’s a Trucker,” another highlight, possesses an Old 97s vibe as Borges uses poetic license in capturing her experience as a courier.

“A lot of [the song] is autobiographical,” she says. “That song is about me. I used to make some bad decisions. It was [Ambel’s] idea to write a song about a lady truck driver because there are no songs about lady truck drivers.”

At this stage in her career, Borges says she no longer takes things for granted. She’s excited to finally hit the road again even if it’s not particularly glorious for an independent musician.

“So much of the stuff I’ve done or was lucky enough to do, I was too young or drunk or too stupid to be properly grateful,” she says. “I’m 43 and sober now. So this time around, I love the truck stops and the shitty motels. [The live show will be] super loud but not scary loud. We have small amps. Here’s the thing with small amps. If you get the right ones, they’re perfect. It’s like when spaghetti sauce is just right. I just want everyone to come to the party.

We’re so grateful just to do it. Right now, the world is so hard. Just for that 90 minutes, we’re all going to commune and have a good time.”

jniesel@clevescene.com t@jniesel

June 29-July 12, 2022 | clevescene.com |

49

50

| clevescene.com | June 29-July 12, 2022

Everclear.

Photo: Ashley Osborn

MUSIC

A CAREER OVERVIEW Everclear brings its 30th anniversary tour to Mentor Civic Amphitheater

By Jeff Niesel SINGER-GUITARIST ART Alexakis had been in bands prior to forming Everclear in Portland, OR in 1992. Since those bands hadn’t caught on, Alexakis thought of Everclear as his final shot.

“Everclear was going to be my last band,” he says via phone from a Lubbock, TX tour stop. Everclear brings its 30th anniversary tour to Mentor Civic Amphitheater on Tuesday, July 12. “I started with a couple of younger guys. I didn’t know what we had. You hear something recorded, and it didn’t do it justice. When I had a chance to record for $400 for trade, I did it not with the idea of making record but to see what we had. We came out of it, and it sounded like a record. I knew there was something there. I could be objective and put on my record guy hat and knew there was something there.”

The band was accepted into South

by Southwest and started getting better local gigs. It recorded its first album, World of Noise, for Tim Kerr Records.

EVERCLEAR 7 P.M., TUESDAY, JULY 12, MENTOR CIVIC AMPHITHEATER, 8600 MUNSON RD., MENTOR, 440-255-1100, MENTORROCKS.INFO.

Even though World of Noise put Everclear on the musical map, it went out of print in 1999. After recently discovering the original tapes, Alexakis is re-releasing the album to coincide with the band’s anniversary tour.

“It’s got six bonus tracks on it, two that had never been released before,” Alexakis says of the deluxe reissue. “It’s got 18 songs total. It’s on iTunes and Spotify for the first time. It will come out on the vinyl but just the original 12 songs, and we’ll just do a colored vinyl 45 with the bonus tracks that will go inside.”

To promote the reissue and tour, Alexakis hooked up with old friend Matt Pinfield, the former host of MTV’s 120 Minutes, to record a multi-part video series that provides an overview of the band’s career.

“I’ve known Matt since 1993

or 1994 when our first tour,” says Alexakis. “He was a music director in New Jersey. We’ve been friends ever since. We both are very open about our sobriety and recovery.

We’re bonded like that as well. When this came up, and I told him we were doing it, he said he wanted to talk to me about it and put it on the Internet. I wouldn’t have done it with anyone but Matt. It was going to be five minutes, but there was so much to talk about. We started scripting out ideas, and we did it. I’m really proud of it.”

The band caught the attention of Capitol Records, who signed and put out Sparkle and Fade, its major label debut. After working with only a few hundred dollars on its first album, the band now had a budget of more than $100,000. The album stumbled out of the gate when the punk-y

“Heroin Girl” didn’t catch fire.

“That’s what people did. They put out something hard and then followed it with something poppier,” Alexakis explains, alluding to the album’s second, more successful single, “Santa Monica.” “In 12 markets ‘Heroin Girl’ played in, it went crazy. Some markets wouldn’t add it because of the word ‘heroin.’”

The band’s follow-up album, So Much for the Afterglow, would become Everclear’s biggest hit, but a record label exec deserves at least some credit for its success. He advised Alexakis to go back to the drawing board after he heard it for the first time.

“We did everything you were supposed to do,” says Alexakis of the initial sessions. “We went to mix it in January of 1997. I remember when I was doing it, I wasn’t sure what I had. I played it over the phone to my AR guy. He said it was an okay record. He said it wasn’t great and wouldn’t give me the career I deserved. It was harsh. I was like, ’Okay.’ I licked my wounds and just stayed in New York in a hotel for about two weeks, walking around watching movies and reading books and writing down ideas to add production to songs. When I finally had written two or three new songs, including ‘So Much for the Afterglow’ and ‘One Hit Wonder,’ I got that World of Noise-attitude back. It might not sound like it music-wise, but I had that fire in my belly again.”

Alexakis told the label that Andy Wallace (Rage Against the Machine, Foo Fighters, Slipknot) needed to mix the album, including the new songs he’d recorded. He wanted Wallace to give it “that big sound.” It turned out to be the right call.

“It became our biggest selling album,” says Alexakis.

Since it celebrates the band’s 30th anniversary, the current tour will provide an overview of the band’s career, and Alexakis doesn’t mind catering to his fanbase.

“We’re doing songs from just about every record,” says Alexakis.

“It’s fun. We do a lot from World of Noise and fan favorites. There are lots of fan favorites and all the hits. We always play the hits. I hate it when bands don’t. It’s a really great set.”

jniesel@clevescene.com t@jniesel

June 29-July 12, 2022 | clevescene.com |

51

LIVEWIRE

Real music in the real world

THU 06/30

TUE

07/12

Marshall Crenshaw Band

DakhaBrakha

Backed by a band featuring Mark Ortmann (the Bottle Rockets) on drums, Fernando Perdomo on guitar and Derrick Anderson on bass, veteran singer-songwriter Marshall Crenshaw comes to Music Box Supper Club tonight at 7:30. A Michigan native, Crenshaw released his first album back in 1982. Expect him to provide a career overview at tonight’s show. Check the Music Box website for more info.

1148 Main Ave., 216-242-1250, musicboxcle.com.

Experimenting with folk music, Ukraine’s DakhaBrakha has added a range of world music and instrumentation to its repertoire and has traveled the globe to perform in many worldwide music festivals. The band recently started its U.S. tour amongst the unsteadiness of events taking place in its homeland but will use the tour to raise monies that will all go to providing relief to friends and family in Kiev with a focus on helping them rebuild their lives. The group performs at 8 tonight and tomorrow night at Music Box Supper Club. Consult the club’s website for ticket prices and more info.

1148 Main Ave., 216-242-1250, musicboxcle.com.

Pink Martini Featuring China Forbes After making its European debut at the Cannes Film Festival in 1997 and its orchestral debut with the Oregon Symphony in 1998, this band has gone on to play with more than 50 orchestras around the world. The group consists of dozens of members and has songs in 25 different languages. It performs tonight at 8 at Cain Park in a concert presented by the Grog Shop. Consult the website for more info.

14591 Superior Rd., Cleveland Heights, 216-371-3000, cainpark.com.

Ty Segall & Freedom Band Touring in support of his forthcoming new album, Hello, Hi, indie rocker Ty Segall comes to the Agora tonight at 6:30 with his Freedom Band. The single “Saturday Pt. 2” features a gentle guitar riff and somber vocals before woozy horns kick in to give the track the lysergic feel for which Segall is known. Bill Nace opens the show.

5000 Euclid Ave., 216-881-2221, agoracleveland.com.

FRI

07/01

Aaron Lewis and the Stateliners Singer Aaron Lewis is best known as the frontman for Staind, the Springfield, Mass.-based band that formed in 1995 and was active up until this year. Lumped in with the nu-metal hard rock acts popular at the time, the group toured with acts like Limp Bizkit in 1999 and then broke through to the mainstream with 2001’s Break the Cycle, an album that featured the moody power ballad “It’s Been Awhile,” a powerful breakup tune about trying to recover one’s self-esteem. It became the

52

DakhaBrakha comes to the Music Box Supper Club for two shows.

See: Tuesday, July 12.

group’s biggest hit. Lewis performs at 8 tonight at MGM Northfield Park — Center Stage. Consult the venue’s website for more info.

10705 Northfield Rd., Northfield, 330-908-7793, mgmnorthfieldpark. mgmresorts.com/en.html.

SAT

07/09

Wilderado Indie rockers Wilderado have over three million monthly listeners and just released their self-titled debut album this past October. The exuberant single “Head Right” broke the Top Ten on the Alternative chart after the late night TV debut on Jimmy Kimmel Live! The band has built a strong following across several EP releases and years of touring with Lindsey Buckingham and Christine McVie (of Fleetwood Mac), Pete Yorn, Mt. Joy and Rainbow Kitten Surprise.

The group plays Mahall’s 20 Lanes in Lakewood tonight at 7. Toledo opens the show. Consult the venue’s website for more info.

13200 Madison Ave., Lakewood, 216521-3280, mahalls20lanes.com.

WonderStruck in Cleveland WonderStruck in Cleveland, the annual two-day music festival that takes place at Lakeland Community College, returns this weekend. The Lumineers and Vampire Weekend will headline, and national acts such as Michael Franti & Spearhead, All Time Low, 24kGoldn, Tai Verdes, Saint Motel, Dean Lewis and Big Freedia will also perform.

Wavrunner, Detention and Jack Harris will represent Northeast Ohio. Check the website for a

| clevescene.com | June 29-July 12, 2022

Credit: Yevhen Rakhno

complete schedule and for ticket prices.

7700 Clocktower Dr., Kirtland, 440525-7000, wonderstruckfest.com.

SUN 07/10 An Evening with Dave Mason Traffic keyboardist Steve Winwood reportedly once complained that guitarist Dave Mason thought of the group as his backing band and would bring the guys finished songs and then expect them to play them exactly as they were written. Since parting ways with Traffic, Mason has proven Windwood wrong and has managed to have a solid solo career. For his current tour, Mason will play a selection of tunes from throughout his lengthy career.

Tonight’s show begins at 7:30 at the Kent Stage.

175 E. Main St., Kent, 330-677-5005, kentstage.org.

MON 07/11 Vision Video Athens, GA-based post-punk, gothrockers Vision Video comes to town tonight in support of its latest album, Haunted Hours. The album relates frontman Dusty Gannon’s direct experiences witnessing the atrocities of war and the horrors of COVID and gun violence. A former U.S. Marine and current Atlanta Fire Department EMT, Gannon possesses a voice that really soars. Tonight’s concert begins at 8 at the Foundry.

11729 Detroit Ave., Lakewood, 216-555-6669, facebook.com/ foundrycleveland.

The Doobie Brothers The classic rock band that’s sold some 48 million albums during the course of a career that stretches back five decades, intended to play Blossom in 2020 as part of a 50th anniversary tour. The pandemic put the trek on hold, and the group is now slated to play tonight at the venue. Expect to hear hits such as “What a Fool Believes,” “Listen to the Music,” “Takin’ It to the Streets” and “Jesus Is Just Alright.” The concert begins at 7:30 p.m.

1145 W. Steels Corners Rd., Cuyahoga Falls, 216-231-1111, livenation.com.

An Evening with Todd Rundgren Singer-guitarist Todd Rundgren has spent the past couple of years playing a series of tour dates billed as An Unpredictable Evening with Todd Rundgren, and it’s quite appropriate, because “unpredictable” is a perfect summary of his career in a nutshell. It’s all part of the “choose your own adventure” feeling that comes with being a Rundgren fan. More than four decades into his career, the veteran artist and producer continues to be driven to explore the new challenges and ideas whenever the inspiration might strike. He’s keenly aware that his musical experiments can test the limits and patience of his fans and yet if there’s a line, it doesn’t seem like he’s afraid of driving over it.

Tonight’s show at the Kent Stage begins at 6:30. Check the club’s website for ticket prices.

175 E. Main St., Kent, 330-677-5005, kentstage.org.

BIITCHSEAT

By Jeff Niesel

A VARIETY OF INFLUENCES: The band draws influence from a variety of musical sources. “We love Courtney Barnett, whom we really admire, and Charly Bliss is a huge influence,” says Kris. “And St. Vincent as well. Great Grandpa is one that we almost always list as an influence. Their album that came out a couple of years ago is great. We heard that and realized it was what was we wanted to sound like. It is so good.” Not that everyone in the band listens to the same music. “Connor is really into electronic music,” says Talor. “Evan was very much a Bon Iver nerd and likes folkier things.”

After self-recording an EP, the band went to Bottleworks Recording Studio in Little Italy to record its debut, To Name All the Bees in the Backyard. “That was a huge deal for us,” says Talor. “It was our first time in the studio doing it professionally.

There was a lot of emotion behind hit. I was unpacking my past with my dad. It was a monumental marker for me in particular, but also were learning what our voice was.”

WRITTEN DURING LOCKDOWN: The band’s new album came out of the pandemic. “We were all separated and hadn’t seen each other for several months,” says Talor.

“I just started writing everyone’s parts at home. When we finally got together, I had seven songs that we hadn’t played together. It was an interesting experience. I had never written for drums before, and that was super fun for me. On this one, we made an effort to divorce ourselves from that orchestral sound. We were just exhausted by it. With this one,

Biitchseat.

ORCHESTRAL MANEUVERS: Connor and Talor played together in high school orchestra in Cleveland.

While studying at Ohio University, Talor met Kris, who also played orchestral music. “I introduced myself to her, and since then, we’ve been best friends,” says Talor. The group formed with a different drummer, but after he moved out of state, the band recruited Evan, whom Talor met at the Recording Arts and Technology program at Tri-C, where they both took a class. “I clicked with him, and when I learned he played drums, I convinced him to play with our band, which didn’t have a drummer at the time.”

Courtesy of Riot Act Media

MEET THE BAND: Talor (vocals, guitar), Kris (vocals, guitar), Connor (bass), Evan (drums)

we healed our wounds and decided to dive more into a different sound.”

WHY YOU SHOULD HEAR THEM: The undulating lead single “I’ll Still Be Thinking of You,” a track which shows off Talor’s powerful vocals, centers on insecurities. “I tend to think many steps ahead in a relationship in order to protect myself based on past trauma,” Talor says when asked about the track. “I’m trying to create an environment where there won’t be any conflict even though there might be an internal conflict.”

Connor Hadley helmed the storydriven music video that was filmed on the Case Western University farm. “We wanted to illustrate what Talor’s idea for the song was,” Kris says. “We did that through showing a couple breaking up and how this one person was kind of overbearing.

We used red and blue and purple.

It was the most effort we put into a music video. We thought through the plot and every shot. We storyboarded and location scouted. We put a lot of thought into it.” “Blackberries and Cherry Cola” possesses an altcountry vibe as Talor sings about her frustrations with trying to socially isolate during the pandemic. “That one was about wanting to rip my hair out after being stuck inside,” Talor says. “That song is about my frustration with isolation and monotony.” Talor says that one track didn’t make the album and might appear as a B-side.

WHERE YOU CAN HEAR THEM: https://biitchseat.bandcamp. com/album/float WHERE YOU CAN SEE THEM: Biitchseat performs with Runaway Brother and Wife Patrol at 8:30 p.m. on Saturday, July 9, at the Grog Shop.

scene@clevescene.com t@clevelandscene June 29-July 12, 2022 | clevescene.com |

53

Phone Lines EXPLICIT CHAT WITH SEXY LOCALS Get your FREE TRIAL! 18+ CALL The Night Exchange NOW! 216.502.4388 / 440.499.6400 www.nightexchange.com

HOT LOCAL URBAN SINGLES!

Are looking to hook up now!

Try it FREE! 18+ 216.367.1010 / 440.424.0303 www.metrovibechatline.com

CALL NOW, MEET TONIGHT!

FREE to try! 18+ 216.626.7777 / 440.325.7777 Other Cities: 1.888.257.5757 www.questchat.com

Massage - Certified

CARING MASSAGE

Days & Evenings, weekends.

Warm candlelight atmosphere.

Lakewood/West Suburbs Linda 216-221-5935

HEALING MASSAGE

BY PHIDES Call 216.221.0565

CUSTOM DRAG STRIPPER & MASSAGE Couple Welcome!

Call (216) 407-1803

54

| clevescene.com | June 29-July 12, 2022

100’s OF SEXY LATINO SINGLES

Meet Hot Latin Locals!

Get your FREE trial! 18+ 216.626.7777 440.325.7777 www.questchat.com

Help Wanted

CITY GOODS is HIRING!

Do you have a passion for small business, a love for Cleveland, and want to work in a creative space? City Goods is opening August 2022 in Ohio City! Work among 25+ local brands in a unique venue with a bar and retail shops. Flexible Shifts, all training included.

Info & Apply: LizPainter@ CityGoodsCLE.com

SAVAGE LOVE LICENSED AND BONDED Hey all: Weekly deadlines being what they are, this column was written before the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade.

We knew this was coming, thanks to the SCOTUS Leaker, but that didn’t make last week’s news any less devastating. (Who’s the leaker?

My money’s on Ginni.) So, what can we do now? We can march, we can donate, and we can vote like the Right has been voting for 50 years, i.e., we can vote like judicial appointments matter. But if you want to do something right now that will piss off the people out there celebrating Dobbs, consider making a donation to the National Network of Abortion Funds. Actually, don’t just consider making a donation, do it right now: abortionfunds.org/donate.

This is going to be a long fight — and we’re not just in a fight to re-secure a woman’s right to control her own body, we’re in a fight to protect all the other rights social conservatives want to claw back, from the right of opposite-sex couples to use contraception to the right of same-sex couples to marry to everyone’s right to enjoy non-PIV sex. (When they say they want to overturn Lawrence v.

Texas, which Clarence Thomas said in his concurrence, they’re not just talking about re-criminalizing gay sex but re-criminalizing a whole lot of straight sex; Lawrence overturned sodomy laws, and anything non-PIV meets the legal definition of sodomy.)

If you live in a state where abortion became illegal overnight, you can find information on self-administered medication abortion — everything you need to know about M&Ms (mifepristone and misoprostol) — at — Dan plancpills.org.

Hey Dan: My partner and I are a heterosexual couple with a large age gap. He is the older one, and our sex life is amazing. We’ve been talking about the idea of having me fuck a new guy for about four years.

However, because he is older and experienced more casual sex is his young adulthood, he felt it was only fair that I got to do that as well. (I was in my early 20s when we started our relationship and I’ve only been with two other guys.) At first, I told him I didn’t feel like I was missing out on anything but over time, the more we talked about it, the more I realized I wanted to do this just for

fun. And now we just got back from a vacation where I found a guy on a hookup app for a one-time meeting and (safely) fucked him while my partner watched. (He’s not a cuck and didn’t participate.) It was just plain fun for all of us! My question is about the “bonding hormone.” I’ve always heard that when a woman has sex, her body produces oxytocin, a hormone that causes her to emotionally attach to her sex partner. That has certainly been true for me in the past. But with this most recent fuck, I didn’t feel any emotional attachment at all! I’ve never had casual sex like this before, so I’m wondering if the “bonding hormone” only releases when you’re seeking an emotional attachment to a sex partner.

Or did I fail to bond because my own partner was in the room? Honestly, I feel more bonded to my partner than ever now!

Curious Casual Newbie For some guys — for some cucks, for some stags — watching the girlfriend with another guy is participating.

So, the fact that your partner “only” watched isn’t proof that allowing you to hook up with another guy was pure altruism on his part.

As for your failure to romantically attach to that vacation rando…

“Oxytocin alone does not create the bond,” said Dr. Larry J. Young.

“There are brain mechanisms that can inhibit bonding after sex with another individual.”

Dr. Young is a neuroscientist at Emory University, where he has extensively studied hormones and the roles they play in forming partner bonds.

“It’s not correct to think of oxytocin as the ‘bonding hormone,’ although you will see that frequently in the media,” said Dr. Young.

“Oxytocin amplifies — amplifies in the brain — the face, the smell, the voice of the person an individual is having sex with, so the brain can really sense those intensively. But it is the interaction of oxytocin with dopamine, which creates the intense pleasure of sex, that causes the bond — that is, the combination of the pleasure (dopamine) and the senses of the sexual partner (oxytocin) create a bond with a sexual partner.”

And according to Dr. Young’s fascinating research — which focuses on prairie voles — you can safely enjoy all the pleasure/

and a lot more respectful. Do you think I should say something? How should I go about it? I’ve asked the friend he’s kissing, who is also a big fan of yours by the way, and she wants to be left out of this.

Bad At Creating Catchy Acronyms

Joe Newton

dopamine you want without fear of bonding with some rando, CCN, so long as your bond with your current partner remains strong.

“Once bonded, the pattern of dopamine receptors changes in the brain so that the occasional sex with another doesn’t create a new bond,” said Dr. Young. “One type of dopamine receptor helps create a bond and the other type inhibits. Unbonded individuals have more of the bonding type of dopamine receptors. After bonding, the inhibitory receptor become more prominent, thus inhibiting a new bond.”

Which means, CCN, it’s safe for you to have sex with other men — with or without your partner present — so long as you still feeling bonded to your primary partner, who may or may not be a cuck. (I mean “safe” in the unlikely-to-catch-feelings-forsomeone else sense, not “safe” in the minimized-risk-of-STI-transmission sense.) There is, however, one important caveat…

“This may not work 100% of the time,” said Dr. Young. “If the bond to the first partner has faded, this reader’s experience may not be shared by everyone.”

To learn more about Dr. Young’s research, go to www.larryjyoung.com.

Hey Dan: I’m a dude. A woman friend of mine in an open marriage recently told me that a male friend of ours greets her by kissing her on the cheek. This is something he only does with her. She feels this happens because she’s physically intimate with someone in our friend group, who’s not her husband and that therefore my friend sees her as “publicly available.”

I’ve personally heard this guy describe this woman friend of mine as “DTF.” I’ve known this guy for years and I just feel bad about the whole thing.

The strangest thing is that this dude is in an open relationship himself and really should know better. It seems like he could be a lot less hypocritical

Let’s say you say something, BACCA, but leave your woman friend out of it.

The kind of guy who thinks a woman in an open relationship is sexually available to all — not just down to fuck, but down to fuck him — is the kind of guy who will interpret any ambiguity in an order to “stop” as license to keep doing exactly what he’s been doing. So, if you can’t tell this guy your mutual friend explicitly told you she 1. wants him to stop and 2. deputized you to tell him to stop, this dude is going to tell himself you were only guessing at how she feels (she doesn’t like this, she doesn’t want him) and that his guess (she likes it, she wants him) is as good a guess as yours. He may even play a little threedimensional-pseudo-male-feminist chess and accuse you of being the sexist and controlling one — it’s her body, her cheek, you shouldn’t be speaking for her, etc.

To get this guy to stop without saying something to him herself, BACCA, your friend needs to give you the okay to make it abundantly clear that she deputized you to speak on her behalf. (“She asked me to tell you to knock it off, and now I’m telling you. Knock it off. If you don’t believe me, ask her.”) She’ll need to be prepared for the almost inevitable follow-up question (“Have I been making you uncomfortable!”) and the maudlin, self-pitying apologies (“I’m so sorry! I feel terrible!”) and/ or rationalizations (“I was just being friendly!”) that are likely to follow.

And if he ever comes in for a kiss again, she needs to be ready to either use her words (“No. Don’t. Stop.”) and/or stick her hand out in front of her — not a hand held out for a shake (she doesn’t want him pulling her in for a kiss), but a flat hand that’s going to land on his sternum if he keeps coming toward her, with a stiff arm (lock that elbow!) so he can’t come any closer.

questions@savagelove.net t@fakedansavage www.savage.love

June 29-July 12, 2022 | clevescene.com |

55

56

| clevescene.com | June 29-July 12, 2022